Investor due diligence

Rule No. 1: Look before you buy

The Buffalo News reports on scam tactics that flippers are practicing to lure inexperienced out-of-state investors. In this case, the pictures displayed on an on-line auction site did not represent the properties being sold.

Hard to believe that a newbie investor would buy a house sight unseen from an on-line company that they had never dealt with before. A key to any successful investment is extensive due diligence up-front. A careful review of the fine print on the on-line auction site would have uncovered the statement that pictures displayed do not actually represent properties being sold.

We are truly blessed in SW Florida with the level of detail that is available for every property on the Property Appraiser site.

Scott Rocheville learned a hard lesson about real estate last year when he purchased a four-unit property on Buffalo's East Side.

The listing in the online auction site included a picture of what he thought was a pretty yellow house, well-kept with a beautiful, manicured lawn and three of the four units already rented.

What the Boston, Mass., police officer-turned-investor found after buying it sight-unseen was quite different. In fact, the Web site's fine print warns "image does not depict actual asset."

City aims to make flipping flop [Buffalo News]